One lesson I'm consistently reminded of while working in my garden is how different things can look based on my perspective. As I squat to weed I get everything I can see. When I stand up and lean over, I see a whole new set of weeds. As I move down the row or to the other side of the row I once again see weeds that were missed from my previous position and perspective. The different things I notice and see as I change my physical perspective reminds me of how important my mental/emotional perspective is.
As a mom my perspective has changed drastically over the years. I was talking with a close friend this week about my transformation from overwhelmed, stressed, tied-down-feeling new mom to a peaceful, joyful, love-being-home mom of four. Many things have changed in my life over the last six years, since I was a new, first-time mom. But none of them have created circumstances that would make life less stressful.
Being a very independent and selfish person (two qualities that are hailed and pushed in our culture) I was not ready to be on call for a demanding infant 24/7. I had always wanted to be a mom, loved my baby, and was grateful for her, but was stressed at what the reality of being a new mom meant. But when she was about a year old God put a Bible Study in my hands that began to change my heart and my perspective on myself, my focus in life, and thus on being a mom. As I began to change my perspective from "what about me?", "but I deserve...," and "I wish things were different," (so they'd make things easier on me) I began to truly grasp the things that I was desperately chasing. Instead my perspective became more focused on growing closer to God so that I could more clearly see His will and let Him work in my life. My perspective on myself began to change (seeing myself for the selfish person I am), my perspective on my husband began to change (seeing all the wonderful things he does instead of nit-picking the things he doesn't do), and my perspective on my children began to change (seeing them for all the wonderful things they bring to my life, not the work and energy they cost me.)
Having the right perspective is still something that I pray about and work on consistently. God has to remind me through His Word and every day things like moving around in my garden to see new weeds to remind me that I also need to check my perspective on my life and make sure that I'm seeing things from His truth, and not from my selfish desires.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Friday, June 26, 2009
Lessons from a Garden
Each year, for the last four years, I have planted a vegetable garden. Each year it seems to get a little bit bigger and a little bit more diverse. And each year God uses my garden to feed not only my body, but also my mind and spirit. As I spend hours a week in my garden - checking my plants, pulling weeds, harvesting vegetables -there is lots of time to think, process and pray, even though I always have one ear and the frequent eye on the children to make sure they're doing what they should be doing.
As I work, I'm reminded of many past lessons and occasionally receive new lessons. It has been quite amazing to me to see all that God can do in me while performing the simple tasks of gardening. The first, and not least, of which is the fact that I am gardening at all.
Growing up my mom had a garden. No, not just a garden, she had a yard full of vegetables. We lived on two and a half acres, and the garden took up at least half an acre. And I hated it. I didn't want to spend my precious hours pulling weeds and picking vegetables. I had more important things to do, like call my friends, listen to the latest top 40 hits, and sunbathe. But even though I hated the work of the garden, I loved the produce from it. Our favorite dinners growing up were when my dad wasn't going to be home to eat, because we would have a fresh-out-of-the-garden dinner (you know how men are about meat and potatoes.) And it's that love of fresh veggies that God instilled in me early that brought me to planting my own garden and opening myself up for Him to work in me through it time and time again.
As I work, I'm reminded of many past lessons and occasionally receive new lessons. It has been quite amazing to me to see all that God can do in me while performing the simple tasks of gardening. The first, and not least, of which is the fact that I am gardening at all.
Growing up my mom had a garden. No, not just a garden, she had a yard full of vegetables. We lived on two and a half acres, and the garden took up at least half an acre. And I hated it. I didn't want to spend my precious hours pulling weeds and picking vegetables. I had more important things to do, like call my friends, listen to the latest top 40 hits, and sunbathe. But even though I hated the work of the garden, I loved the produce from it. Our favorite dinners growing up were when my dad wasn't going to be home to eat, because we would have a fresh-out-of-the-garden dinner (you know how men are about meat and potatoes.) And it's that love of fresh veggies that God instilled in me early that brought me to planting my own garden and opening myself up for Him to work in me through it time and time again.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Another Great Website Found!
If you have children in grade school, whether you homeschool or not, this is a great website. I found it looking for cursive templates that I could personalize - I found so much more! www.kidzone.ws has information and worksheets by topic – including animal facts, geography, language arts, lesson plans, magic tricks, math, science, and thematic units – or by grade – preschool through grade five. Preschool includes alphabet recognition games, learning letter sounds, color recognition worksheets, scissor skills, shape recognition worksheets, and much, much more. First grad has consonant recognition and practice, tracer pages, math worksheets, Dolch (sight) words, phonics, science experiments and facts and thematic units. The tools for other grades are just as good and various (those just happen to be the grades I’m teaching right now) as these.
We use websites to supplement learning all the time and I’m always excited to find new ones. Ones we stick to for games are www.pbskids.org, www.nickjr.com, and www.starfall.com. Another great website for customizable worksheets is www.handwritingworksheets.com. www.schoolexpress.com is also a great resource website for parents.
Do you have a great parenting website? Please share it! Happy learning!
We use websites to supplement learning all the time and I’m always excited to find new ones. Ones we stick to for games are www.pbskids.org, www.nickjr.com, and www.starfall.com. Another great website for customizable worksheets is www.handwritingworksheets.com. www.schoolexpress.com is also a great resource website for parents.
Do you have a great parenting website? Please share it! Happy learning!
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Sick Days
Sick days aren’t what they used to be. When I think back to high school and college days, sick days were usually days when I wanted a break. They were days to do nothing and go nowhere. I’d flip through the channels until that got old and then maybe curl up with a book. Anything went for food, but soup or a bowl of pasta was typical fair. Sick days were days of rest and recuperation. Even when I got my first “real” job after college I was able to take a mental health days. I worked in healthy place that believed that mental health days helped employees be more productive when they were at work. I didn’t even have to use my vacation, I could actually schedule a sick day.
Now I’m a mom and sick days have taken on a whole new meaning. There are no days off, with rest, relaxation, reading, and flipping channels on the agenda. When I do get a day “off” – meaning the house with no children for a day – it’s generally spent catching up with chores and used to do special projects that have been put off for who knows how long. True sick days – those days where I’m truly sick – are still not days of rest. Generally, as a mom, you keep on keeping on even when you feel bad. There are still children who need to be taken care of, fed, and loved. Their needs don’t vaporize because mommy doesn’t feel good. On occasion help can be recruited (my husband has been known to stay home to help out, but a day is about max tolerance for being in the house with a sick wife and a bunch of little ones.) Usually, however, you don’t want to share your germs, and no one want to take the risk anyway. So sick days, even true sick days, end up trying to function through a thick fog with every thought focusing on the next time you can crawl into bed, but knowing that just getting to lay down on the floor and being crawled on would suffice.
Sick days as a mom also include when the kids get sick. Life stops. Routine stops. Chores stop. Rules lax. Even more so than when mommy’s sick, everything comes to a screeching halt. Although all kids deal with feeling bad differently, they tend to want mommy. They want mommy to hold them, snuggle with them, and just be there. The focus becomes medicine schedules, and fluid intake, and temperature readings. Oh yeah, and dragging sick (and all other non-sick) children out to the doctor’s office and then to the pharmacy to wait for half an hour for medicine. Housework waits. Showers wait. Sleep waits.
Hopefully it passes in a day or two, although sometimes it’s a week or two. It’s exhausting and trying, but worth every minute. The laundry will eventually get done. The dishes will eventually get done. The dust will sit and wait. But just like everything else, when we put our kids first, it is completely worth it. Sometimes it takes sick days for us to stop and focus solely on these precious gifts. Sick days: no fun, but a wonderful opportunity to stop and say “I love you” one more way.
Now I’m a mom and sick days have taken on a whole new meaning. There are no days off, with rest, relaxation, reading, and flipping channels on the agenda. When I do get a day “off” – meaning the house with no children for a day – it’s generally spent catching up with chores and used to do special projects that have been put off for who knows how long. True sick days – those days where I’m truly sick – are still not days of rest. Generally, as a mom, you keep on keeping on even when you feel bad. There are still children who need to be taken care of, fed, and loved. Their needs don’t vaporize because mommy doesn’t feel good. On occasion help can be recruited (my husband has been known to stay home to help out, but a day is about max tolerance for being in the house with a sick wife and a bunch of little ones.) Usually, however, you don’t want to share your germs, and no one want to take the risk anyway. So sick days, even true sick days, end up trying to function through a thick fog with every thought focusing on the next time you can crawl into bed, but knowing that just getting to lay down on the floor and being crawled on would suffice.
Sick days as a mom also include when the kids get sick. Life stops. Routine stops. Chores stop. Rules lax. Even more so than when mommy’s sick, everything comes to a screeching halt. Although all kids deal with feeling bad differently, they tend to want mommy. They want mommy to hold them, snuggle with them, and just be there. The focus becomes medicine schedules, and fluid intake, and temperature readings. Oh yeah, and dragging sick (and all other non-sick) children out to the doctor’s office and then to the pharmacy to wait for half an hour for medicine. Housework waits. Showers wait. Sleep waits.
Hopefully it passes in a day or two, although sometimes it’s a week or two. It’s exhausting and trying, but worth every minute. The laundry will eventually get done. The dishes will eventually get done. The dust will sit and wait. But just like everything else, when we put our kids first, it is completely worth it. Sometimes it takes sick days for us to stop and focus solely on these precious gifts. Sick days: no fun, but a wonderful opportunity to stop and say “I love you” one more way.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Laundry
I never knew how much laundry would dominate my life! With a household of five I do between 6-8 loads a week. I'm learning to combine things a little better and stuff loads, which helps with the actual number, but doesn't change the amount to fold, hang, and put away. I've tried various methods - one a day, only putting an extra load in when the one out of the dryer is put a way - but right now I've settled on the laundry day, where everything gets done in one (or two) days.
That isn't always enough, however. For added fun this week I decided it was time to switch out my youngest's clothes. She's 23 months and starting to potty train herself, so there really was a slight need. She's growing out of some of her 18 month clothes and I needed to find the training panties I knew were with the 24 month/2T clothes. In the meantime I found several bags of clothes where I had thrown items as the girls have grown out of them. That means there are a few things of every size (from 12 months to 6) all jumbled together. I hate finding a cute outfit that wasn't with the right size after it's been grown out of (and it's easier to make the switch if everything's together.)
So now my den has been taken over by clothes. It's very overwhelming looking at the mountains of clothes everywhere, but I sit down and take it piece by piece. It's something that needs to be done, and I thank God for the more than generous supplies we have for our children. I know with baby number 4 on the way I'll start the every 3 month clothing turn over again soon, and will probably be overwhelmed with laundry again with tons of baby clothes (little, yes, but there's so many with babies that cover outfits with spit up and/or have a blow out at least once a day), summer laundry (towels, swim suits, etc.), and all the regular stuff. When that happens I'll just have to come back to this post, and remind myself that it doesn't last forever - and one day they'll be old enough to do it all on their own! (yes, they are in training.)
That isn't always enough, however. For added fun this week I decided it was time to switch out my youngest's clothes. She's 23 months and starting to potty train herself, so there really was a slight need. She's growing out of some of her 18 month clothes and I needed to find the training panties I knew were with the 24 month/2T clothes. In the meantime I found several bags of clothes where I had thrown items as the girls have grown out of them. That means there are a few things of every size (from 12 months to 6) all jumbled together. I hate finding a cute outfit that wasn't with the right size after it's been grown out of (and it's easier to make the switch if everything's together.)
So now my den has been taken over by clothes. It's very overwhelming looking at the mountains of clothes everywhere, but I sit down and take it piece by piece. It's something that needs to be done, and I thank God for the more than generous supplies we have for our children. I know with baby number 4 on the way I'll start the every 3 month clothing turn over again soon, and will probably be overwhelmed with laundry again with tons of baby clothes (little, yes, but there's so many with babies that cover outfits with spit up and/or have a blow out at least once a day), summer laundry (towels, swim suits, etc.), and all the regular stuff. When that happens I'll just have to come back to this post, and remind myself that it doesn't last forever - and one day they'll be old enough to do it all on their own! (yes, they are in training.)
Monday, March 16, 2009
Throwing a Child's Birthday Party Under $100
I’ve been to a couple of Birthday parties lately that have cost (to my best guestimate) between $300-$400. One was a location party and included ordered pizzas. The second had Cinderella come visit. In between these two parties my husband and I threw a party at home for our two oldest children (who’s birthdays are conveniently 3 days apart.) We’ve never gone all out or spent a lot on Birthday parties and the children always seem to have a blast. This year I decided to try to keep the spending to a minimum. We threw two parties, one for our children’s friends and one for family. Both were held on the same day. Our goal is always to stay under $100, including providing dinner for the family. This year we came well under our goal, with the total expenditure being about $86. Here’s how we did it.
First, we hosted the parties at home. I created post card invitations on my computer and hand delivered as many as possible. We only blew up balloons for decorations (no helium – kids like it better if they’re within their reach to play with anyhow.) We bought minimum numbers of paper products and made the drinks from scratch. I didn’t put out any other food, as we had the party at 2:00 p.m., right after lunch. The cake and icing were home-made, decorating and creating is part of the fun for us and the kids to see what we’ll come up with next. We get cake ideas from coolest-birthday-cakes.com (we also have one posted there under Thomas – Island of Sodor.) I also got party game ideas from partygamecentral.com. We played the spoon race using potatoes instead of eggs (they’re usable even if they get dropped) and the spin until your dizzy game.
I’m not a big fan of gift bags of plastic trinkets and candy for giveaways for guests. Last year I bought dollar books and made paper crowns for each child. This year I bought small clay pots, a bag of seeds and some soil (of which I could use the remainder for my plants I start inside for my garden.) We used paints, glitter glue, and paint brushes that I had in my craft collection for the kids to decorate their pots after they planted their seeds. They loved the craft and fortunately it was warm so we were able to do this outside and let the pots dry while we continued with the party.
The kids party went very well and we stayed right at $50 with everything included. Later in the day we hosted the family party and provided dinner for everyone. We grilled chicken, made a home-made salad from fixing I had around the house from what we normally by at Costco (also where we got the chicken), and made two box rice mixes (just because I forgot to put the real rice on to soak and cook early enough.) There was enough cake left to feed the family as well as some left over. Everyone had a good time and was well fed. The kids had a blast and each had a personal gift take home. I’m sure someone may be able to come up with an even more frugal party, but we’re very happy with our full day of celebrating for under $100.
Here's the expense break-down:
Kid Party (10 young guests)
12 Clay Pots $9
Bag of Seeds $1
Soil $4
Art supplies $0
Invitations $0
Stamps $2
Plates, Cups, Napkins $12
Game ideas/supplies $0
Balloons (bag of 24) $2
Cake (4 boxes, ice cream cones) $9
Icing (home-made) $6
Ice Cream (generic, 2 cartons) $7
Drinks (tea, lemonade, water) $0
Thank You’s (home-made) $0
Thank You postage $4
Total for Kid Party $56
Family Party/Dinner (15 adults)
Chicken Tenders $13
Marinade/oil $2
Rice Mixes $3
Salad fixings $9
Thank You postage $3
Total for Family Party/Dinner $30
Grand Total $86
First, we hosted the parties at home. I created post card invitations on my computer and hand delivered as many as possible. We only blew up balloons for decorations (no helium – kids like it better if they’re within their reach to play with anyhow.) We bought minimum numbers of paper products and made the drinks from scratch. I didn’t put out any other food, as we had the party at 2:00 p.m., right after lunch. The cake and icing were home-made, decorating and creating is part of the fun for us and the kids to see what we’ll come up with next. We get cake ideas from coolest-birthday-cakes.com (we also have one posted there under Thomas – Island of Sodor.) I also got party game ideas from partygamecentral.com. We played the spoon race using potatoes instead of eggs (they’re usable even if they get dropped) and the spin until your dizzy game.
I’m not a big fan of gift bags of plastic trinkets and candy for giveaways for guests. Last year I bought dollar books and made paper crowns for each child. This year I bought small clay pots, a bag of seeds and some soil (of which I could use the remainder for my plants I start inside for my garden.) We used paints, glitter glue, and paint brushes that I had in my craft collection for the kids to decorate their pots after they planted their seeds. They loved the craft and fortunately it was warm so we were able to do this outside and let the pots dry while we continued with the party.
The kids party went very well and we stayed right at $50 with everything included. Later in the day we hosted the family party and provided dinner for everyone. We grilled chicken, made a home-made salad from fixing I had around the house from what we normally by at Costco (also where we got the chicken), and made two box rice mixes (just because I forgot to put the real rice on to soak and cook early enough.) There was enough cake left to feed the family as well as some left over. Everyone had a good time and was well fed. The kids had a blast and each had a personal gift take home. I’m sure someone may be able to come up with an even more frugal party, but we’re very happy with our full day of celebrating for under $100.
Here's the expense break-down:
Kid Party (10 young guests)
12 Clay Pots $9
Bag of Seeds $1
Soil $4
Art supplies $0
Invitations $0
Stamps $2
Plates, Cups, Napkins $12
Game ideas/supplies $0
Balloons (bag of 24) $2
Cake (4 boxes, ice cream cones) $9
Icing (home-made) $6
Ice Cream (generic, 2 cartons) $7
Drinks (tea, lemonade, water) $0
Thank You’s (home-made) $0
Thank You postage $4
Total for Kid Party $56
Family Party/Dinner (15 adults)
Chicken Tenders $13
Marinade/oil $2
Rice Mixes $3
Salad fixings $9
Thank You postage $3
Total for Family Party/Dinner $30
Grand Total $86
Sunday, March 15, 2009
What I never knew...
Things I never knew about being a mom before I became a mom:
How much bodily fluids and functions would be a part of my every day life, conversation, and concerns.
What real exhaustion was.
How passionate I could be - both positively and negatively.
How many words I would eat, most of them beginning with "I'll never..." or "my child will never..."
How difficult it would be to not give in, especially when they're super cute.
That laundry, cooking, and straightening up would make up the majority of my time.
That I can function fully at a moment's notice after being woken up out of a dead sleep.
That I'd begin to look forward to 3:00 a.m. awakenings because once the child went back to sleep, the house is quiet and I can get things done.
What did you never know?
How much bodily fluids and functions would be a part of my every day life, conversation, and concerns.
What real exhaustion was.
How passionate I could be - both positively and negatively.
How many words I would eat, most of them beginning with "I'll never..." or "my child will never..."
How difficult it would be to not give in, especially when they're super cute.
That laundry, cooking, and straightening up would make up the majority of my time.
That I can function fully at a moment's notice after being woken up out of a dead sleep.
That I'd begin to look forward to 3:00 a.m. awakenings because once the child went back to sleep, the house is quiet and I can get things done.
What did you never know?
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Sunday, June 28, 2009
Perspectives from a Garden
One lesson I'm consistently reminded of while working in my garden is how different things can look based on my perspective. As I squat to weed I get everything I can see. When I stand up and lean over, I see a whole new set of weeds. As I move down the row or to the other side of the row I once again see weeds that were missed from my previous position and perspective. The different things I notice and see as I change my physical perspective reminds me of how important my mental/emotional perspective is.
As a mom my perspective has changed drastically over the years. I was talking with a close friend this week about my transformation from overwhelmed, stressed, tied-down-feeling new mom to a peaceful, joyful, love-being-home mom of four. Many things have changed in my life over the last six years, since I was a new, first-time mom. But none of them have created circumstances that would make life less stressful.
Being a very independent and selfish person (two qualities that are hailed and pushed in our culture) I was not ready to be on call for a demanding infant 24/7. I had always wanted to be a mom, loved my baby, and was grateful for her, but was stressed at what the reality of being a new mom meant. But when she was about a year old God put a Bible Study in my hands that began to change my heart and my perspective on myself, my focus in life, and thus on being a mom. As I began to change my perspective from "what about me?", "but I deserve...," and "I wish things were different," (so they'd make things easier on me) I began to truly grasp the things that I was desperately chasing. Instead my perspective became more focused on growing closer to God so that I could more clearly see His will and let Him work in my life. My perspective on myself began to change (seeing myself for the selfish person I am), my perspective on my husband began to change (seeing all the wonderful things he does instead of nit-picking the things he doesn't do), and my perspective on my children began to change (seeing them for all the wonderful things they bring to my life, not the work and energy they cost me.)
Having the right perspective is still something that I pray about and work on consistently. God has to remind me through His Word and every day things like moving around in my garden to see new weeds to remind me that I also need to check my perspective on my life and make sure that I'm seeing things from His truth, and not from my selfish desires.
As a mom my perspective has changed drastically over the years. I was talking with a close friend this week about my transformation from overwhelmed, stressed, tied-down-feeling new mom to a peaceful, joyful, love-being-home mom of four. Many things have changed in my life over the last six years, since I was a new, first-time mom. But none of them have created circumstances that would make life less stressful.
Being a very independent and selfish person (two qualities that are hailed and pushed in our culture) I was not ready to be on call for a demanding infant 24/7. I had always wanted to be a mom, loved my baby, and was grateful for her, but was stressed at what the reality of being a new mom meant. But when she was about a year old God put a Bible Study in my hands that began to change my heart and my perspective on myself, my focus in life, and thus on being a mom. As I began to change my perspective from "what about me?", "but I deserve...," and "I wish things were different," (so they'd make things easier on me) I began to truly grasp the things that I was desperately chasing. Instead my perspective became more focused on growing closer to God so that I could more clearly see His will and let Him work in my life. My perspective on myself began to change (seeing myself for the selfish person I am), my perspective on my husband began to change (seeing all the wonderful things he does instead of nit-picking the things he doesn't do), and my perspective on my children began to change (seeing them for all the wonderful things they bring to my life, not the work and energy they cost me.)
Having the right perspective is still something that I pray about and work on consistently. God has to remind me through His Word and every day things like moving around in my garden to see new weeds to remind me that I also need to check my perspective on my life and make sure that I'm seeing things from His truth, and not from my selfish desires.
Friday, June 26, 2009
Lessons from a Garden
Each year, for the last four years, I have planted a vegetable garden. Each year it seems to get a little bit bigger and a little bit more diverse. And each year God uses my garden to feed not only my body, but also my mind and spirit. As I spend hours a week in my garden - checking my plants, pulling weeds, harvesting vegetables -there is lots of time to think, process and pray, even though I always have one ear and the frequent eye on the children to make sure they're doing what they should be doing.
As I work, I'm reminded of many past lessons and occasionally receive new lessons. It has been quite amazing to me to see all that God can do in me while performing the simple tasks of gardening. The first, and not least, of which is the fact that I am gardening at all.
Growing up my mom had a garden. No, not just a garden, she had a yard full of vegetables. We lived on two and a half acres, and the garden took up at least half an acre. And I hated it. I didn't want to spend my precious hours pulling weeds and picking vegetables. I had more important things to do, like call my friends, listen to the latest top 40 hits, and sunbathe. But even though I hated the work of the garden, I loved the produce from it. Our favorite dinners growing up were when my dad wasn't going to be home to eat, because we would have a fresh-out-of-the-garden dinner (you know how men are about meat and potatoes.) And it's that love of fresh veggies that God instilled in me early that brought me to planting my own garden and opening myself up for Him to work in me through it time and time again.
As I work, I'm reminded of many past lessons and occasionally receive new lessons. It has been quite amazing to me to see all that God can do in me while performing the simple tasks of gardening. The first, and not least, of which is the fact that I am gardening at all.
Growing up my mom had a garden. No, not just a garden, she had a yard full of vegetables. We lived on two and a half acres, and the garden took up at least half an acre. And I hated it. I didn't want to spend my precious hours pulling weeds and picking vegetables. I had more important things to do, like call my friends, listen to the latest top 40 hits, and sunbathe. But even though I hated the work of the garden, I loved the produce from it. Our favorite dinners growing up were when my dad wasn't going to be home to eat, because we would have a fresh-out-of-the-garden dinner (you know how men are about meat and potatoes.) And it's that love of fresh veggies that God instilled in me early that brought me to planting my own garden and opening myself up for Him to work in me through it time and time again.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Another Great Website Found!
If you have children in grade school, whether you homeschool or not, this is a great website. I found it looking for cursive templates that I could personalize - I found so much more! www.kidzone.ws has information and worksheets by topic – including animal facts, geography, language arts, lesson plans, magic tricks, math, science, and thematic units – or by grade – preschool through grade five. Preschool includes alphabet recognition games, learning letter sounds, color recognition worksheets, scissor skills, shape recognition worksheets, and much, much more. First grad has consonant recognition and practice, tracer pages, math worksheets, Dolch (sight) words, phonics, science experiments and facts and thematic units. The tools for other grades are just as good and various (those just happen to be the grades I’m teaching right now) as these.
We use websites to supplement learning all the time and I’m always excited to find new ones. Ones we stick to for games are www.pbskids.org, www.nickjr.com, and www.starfall.com. Another great website for customizable worksheets is www.handwritingworksheets.com. www.schoolexpress.com is also a great resource website for parents.
Do you have a great parenting website? Please share it! Happy learning!
We use websites to supplement learning all the time and I’m always excited to find new ones. Ones we stick to for games are www.pbskids.org, www.nickjr.com, and www.starfall.com. Another great website for customizable worksheets is www.handwritingworksheets.com. www.schoolexpress.com is also a great resource website for parents.
Do you have a great parenting website? Please share it! Happy learning!
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Sick Days
Sick days aren’t what they used to be. When I think back to high school and college days, sick days were usually days when I wanted a break. They were days to do nothing and go nowhere. I’d flip through the channels until that got old and then maybe curl up with a book. Anything went for food, but soup or a bowl of pasta was typical fair. Sick days were days of rest and recuperation. Even when I got my first “real” job after college I was able to take a mental health days. I worked in healthy place that believed that mental health days helped employees be more productive when they were at work. I didn’t even have to use my vacation, I could actually schedule a sick day.
Now I’m a mom and sick days have taken on a whole new meaning. There are no days off, with rest, relaxation, reading, and flipping channels on the agenda. When I do get a day “off” – meaning the house with no children for a day – it’s generally spent catching up with chores and used to do special projects that have been put off for who knows how long. True sick days – those days where I’m truly sick – are still not days of rest. Generally, as a mom, you keep on keeping on even when you feel bad. There are still children who need to be taken care of, fed, and loved. Their needs don’t vaporize because mommy doesn’t feel good. On occasion help can be recruited (my husband has been known to stay home to help out, but a day is about max tolerance for being in the house with a sick wife and a bunch of little ones.) Usually, however, you don’t want to share your germs, and no one want to take the risk anyway. So sick days, even true sick days, end up trying to function through a thick fog with every thought focusing on the next time you can crawl into bed, but knowing that just getting to lay down on the floor and being crawled on would suffice.
Sick days as a mom also include when the kids get sick. Life stops. Routine stops. Chores stop. Rules lax. Even more so than when mommy’s sick, everything comes to a screeching halt. Although all kids deal with feeling bad differently, they tend to want mommy. They want mommy to hold them, snuggle with them, and just be there. The focus becomes medicine schedules, and fluid intake, and temperature readings. Oh yeah, and dragging sick (and all other non-sick) children out to the doctor’s office and then to the pharmacy to wait for half an hour for medicine. Housework waits. Showers wait. Sleep waits.
Hopefully it passes in a day or two, although sometimes it’s a week or two. It’s exhausting and trying, but worth every minute. The laundry will eventually get done. The dishes will eventually get done. The dust will sit and wait. But just like everything else, when we put our kids first, it is completely worth it. Sometimes it takes sick days for us to stop and focus solely on these precious gifts. Sick days: no fun, but a wonderful opportunity to stop and say “I love you” one more way.
Now I’m a mom and sick days have taken on a whole new meaning. There are no days off, with rest, relaxation, reading, and flipping channels on the agenda. When I do get a day “off” – meaning the house with no children for a day – it’s generally spent catching up with chores and used to do special projects that have been put off for who knows how long. True sick days – those days where I’m truly sick – are still not days of rest. Generally, as a mom, you keep on keeping on even when you feel bad. There are still children who need to be taken care of, fed, and loved. Their needs don’t vaporize because mommy doesn’t feel good. On occasion help can be recruited (my husband has been known to stay home to help out, but a day is about max tolerance for being in the house with a sick wife and a bunch of little ones.) Usually, however, you don’t want to share your germs, and no one want to take the risk anyway. So sick days, even true sick days, end up trying to function through a thick fog with every thought focusing on the next time you can crawl into bed, but knowing that just getting to lay down on the floor and being crawled on would suffice.
Sick days as a mom also include when the kids get sick. Life stops. Routine stops. Chores stop. Rules lax. Even more so than when mommy’s sick, everything comes to a screeching halt. Although all kids deal with feeling bad differently, they tend to want mommy. They want mommy to hold them, snuggle with them, and just be there. The focus becomes medicine schedules, and fluid intake, and temperature readings. Oh yeah, and dragging sick (and all other non-sick) children out to the doctor’s office and then to the pharmacy to wait for half an hour for medicine. Housework waits. Showers wait. Sleep waits.
Hopefully it passes in a day or two, although sometimes it’s a week or two. It’s exhausting and trying, but worth every minute. The laundry will eventually get done. The dishes will eventually get done. The dust will sit and wait. But just like everything else, when we put our kids first, it is completely worth it. Sometimes it takes sick days for us to stop and focus solely on these precious gifts. Sick days: no fun, but a wonderful opportunity to stop and say “I love you” one more way.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Laundry
I never knew how much laundry would dominate my life! With a household of five I do between 6-8 loads a week. I'm learning to combine things a little better and stuff loads, which helps with the actual number, but doesn't change the amount to fold, hang, and put away. I've tried various methods - one a day, only putting an extra load in when the one out of the dryer is put a way - but right now I've settled on the laundry day, where everything gets done in one (or two) days.
That isn't always enough, however. For added fun this week I decided it was time to switch out my youngest's clothes. She's 23 months and starting to potty train herself, so there really was a slight need. She's growing out of some of her 18 month clothes and I needed to find the training panties I knew were with the 24 month/2T clothes. In the meantime I found several bags of clothes where I had thrown items as the girls have grown out of them. That means there are a few things of every size (from 12 months to 6) all jumbled together. I hate finding a cute outfit that wasn't with the right size after it's been grown out of (and it's easier to make the switch if everything's together.)
So now my den has been taken over by clothes. It's very overwhelming looking at the mountains of clothes everywhere, but I sit down and take it piece by piece. It's something that needs to be done, and I thank God for the more than generous supplies we have for our children. I know with baby number 4 on the way I'll start the every 3 month clothing turn over again soon, and will probably be overwhelmed with laundry again with tons of baby clothes (little, yes, but there's so many with babies that cover outfits with spit up and/or have a blow out at least once a day), summer laundry (towels, swim suits, etc.), and all the regular stuff. When that happens I'll just have to come back to this post, and remind myself that it doesn't last forever - and one day they'll be old enough to do it all on their own! (yes, they are in training.)
That isn't always enough, however. For added fun this week I decided it was time to switch out my youngest's clothes. She's 23 months and starting to potty train herself, so there really was a slight need. She's growing out of some of her 18 month clothes and I needed to find the training panties I knew were with the 24 month/2T clothes. In the meantime I found several bags of clothes where I had thrown items as the girls have grown out of them. That means there are a few things of every size (from 12 months to 6) all jumbled together. I hate finding a cute outfit that wasn't with the right size after it's been grown out of (and it's easier to make the switch if everything's together.)
So now my den has been taken over by clothes. It's very overwhelming looking at the mountains of clothes everywhere, but I sit down and take it piece by piece. It's something that needs to be done, and I thank God for the more than generous supplies we have for our children. I know with baby number 4 on the way I'll start the every 3 month clothing turn over again soon, and will probably be overwhelmed with laundry again with tons of baby clothes (little, yes, but there's so many with babies that cover outfits with spit up and/or have a blow out at least once a day), summer laundry (towels, swim suits, etc.), and all the regular stuff. When that happens I'll just have to come back to this post, and remind myself that it doesn't last forever - and one day they'll be old enough to do it all on their own! (yes, they are in training.)
Monday, March 16, 2009
Throwing a Child's Birthday Party Under $100
I’ve been to a couple of Birthday parties lately that have cost (to my best guestimate) between $300-$400. One was a location party and included ordered pizzas. The second had Cinderella come visit. In between these two parties my husband and I threw a party at home for our two oldest children (who’s birthdays are conveniently 3 days apart.) We’ve never gone all out or spent a lot on Birthday parties and the children always seem to have a blast. This year I decided to try to keep the spending to a minimum. We threw two parties, one for our children’s friends and one for family. Both were held on the same day. Our goal is always to stay under $100, including providing dinner for the family. This year we came well under our goal, with the total expenditure being about $86. Here’s how we did it.
First, we hosted the parties at home. I created post card invitations on my computer and hand delivered as many as possible. We only blew up balloons for decorations (no helium – kids like it better if they’re within their reach to play with anyhow.) We bought minimum numbers of paper products and made the drinks from scratch. I didn’t put out any other food, as we had the party at 2:00 p.m., right after lunch. The cake and icing were home-made, decorating and creating is part of the fun for us and the kids to see what we’ll come up with next. We get cake ideas from coolest-birthday-cakes.com (we also have one posted there under Thomas – Island of Sodor.) I also got party game ideas from partygamecentral.com. We played the spoon race using potatoes instead of eggs (they’re usable even if they get dropped) and the spin until your dizzy game.
I’m not a big fan of gift bags of plastic trinkets and candy for giveaways for guests. Last year I bought dollar books and made paper crowns for each child. This year I bought small clay pots, a bag of seeds and some soil (of which I could use the remainder for my plants I start inside for my garden.) We used paints, glitter glue, and paint brushes that I had in my craft collection for the kids to decorate their pots after they planted their seeds. They loved the craft and fortunately it was warm so we were able to do this outside and let the pots dry while we continued with the party.
The kids party went very well and we stayed right at $50 with everything included. Later in the day we hosted the family party and provided dinner for everyone. We grilled chicken, made a home-made salad from fixing I had around the house from what we normally by at Costco (also where we got the chicken), and made two box rice mixes (just because I forgot to put the real rice on to soak and cook early enough.) There was enough cake left to feed the family as well as some left over. Everyone had a good time and was well fed. The kids had a blast and each had a personal gift take home. I’m sure someone may be able to come up with an even more frugal party, but we’re very happy with our full day of celebrating for under $100.
Here's the expense break-down:
Kid Party (10 young guests)
12 Clay Pots $9
Bag of Seeds $1
Soil $4
Art supplies $0
Invitations $0
Stamps $2
Plates, Cups, Napkins $12
Game ideas/supplies $0
Balloons (bag of 24) $2
Cake (4 boxes, ice cream cones) $9
Icing (home-made) $6
Ice Cream (generic, 2 cartons) $7
Drinks (tea, lemonade, water) $0
Thank You’s (home-made) $0
Thank You postage $4
Total for Kid Party $56
Family Party/Dinner (15 adults)
Chicken Tenders $13
Marinade/oil $2
Rice Mixes $3
Salad fixings $9
Thank You postage $3
Total for Family Party/Dinner $30
Grand Total $86
First, we hosted the parties at home. I created post card invitations on my computer and hand delivered as many as possible. We only blew up balloons for decorations (no helium – kids like it better if they’re within their reach to play with anyhow.) We bought minimum numbers of paper products and made the drinks from scratch. I didn’t put out any other food, as we had the party at 2:00 p.m., right after lunch. The cake and icing were home-made, decorating and creating is part of the fun for us and the kids to see what we’ll come up with next. We get cake ideas from coolest-birthday-cakes.com (we also have one posted there under Thomas – Island of Sodor.) I also got party game ideas from partygamecentral.com. We played the spoon race using potatoes instead of eggs (they’re usable even if they get dropped) and the spin until your dizzy game.
I’m not a big fan of gift bags of plastic trinkets and candy for giveaways for guests. Last year I bought dollar books and made paper crowns for each child. This year I bought small clay pots, a bag of seeds and some soil (of which I could use the remainder for my plants I start inside for my garden.) We used paints, glitter glue, and paint brushes that I had in my craft collection for the kids to decorate their pots after they planted their seeds. They loved the craft and fortunately it was warm so we were able to do this outside and let the pots dry while we continued with the party.
The kids party went very well and we stayed right at $50 with everything included. Later in the day we hosted the family party and provided dinner for everyone. We grilled chicken, made a home-made salad from fixing I had around the house from what we normally by at Costco (also where we got the chicken), and made two box rice mixes (just because I forgot to put the real rice on to soak and cook early enough.) There was enough cake left to feed the family as well as some left over. Everyone had a good time and was well fed. The kids had a blast and each had a personal gift take home. I’m sure someone may be able to come up with an even more frugal party, but we’re very happy with our full day of celebrating for under $100.
Here's the expense break-down:
Kid Party (10 young guests)
12 Clay Pots $9
Bag of Seeds $1
Soil $4
Art supplies $0
Invitations $0
Stamps $2
Plates, Cups, Napkins $12
Game ideas/supplies $0
Balloons (bag of 24) $2
Cake (4 boxes, ice cream cones) $9
Icing (home-made) $6
Ice Cream (generic, 2 cartons) $7
Drinks (tea, lemonade, water) $0
Thank You’s (home-made) $0
Thank You postage $4
Total for Kid Party $56
Family Party/Dinner (15 adults)
Chicken Tenders $13
Marinade/oil $2
Rice Mixes $3
Salad fixings $9
Thank You postage $3
Total for Family Party/Dinner $30
Grand Total $86
Sunday, March 15, 2009
What I never knew...
Things I never knew about being a mom before I became a mom:
How much bodily fluids and functions would be a part of my every day life, conversation, and concerns.
What real exhaustion was.
How passionate I could be - both positively and negatively.
How many words I would eat, most of them beginning with "I'll never..." or "my child will never..."
How difficult it would be to not give in, especially when they're super cute.
That laundry, cooking, and straightening up would make up the majority of my time.
That I can function fully at a moment's notice after being woken up out of a dead sleep.
That I'd begin to look forward to 3:00 a.m. awakenings because once the child went back to sleep, the house is quiet and I can get things done.
What did you never know?
How much bodily fluids and functions would be a part of my every day life, conversation, and concerns.
What real exhaustion was.
How passionate I could be - both positively and negatively.
How many words I would eat, most of them beginning with "I'll never..." or "my child will never..."
How difficult it would be to not give in, especially when they're super cute.
That laundry, cooking, and straightening up would make up the majority of my time.
That I can function fully at a moment's notice after being woken up out of a dead sleep.
That I'd begin to look forward to 3:00 a.m. awakenings because once the child went back to sleep, the house is quiet and I can get things done.
What did you never know?
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